A wilted lotus and a rusted hammer
by crazyfangirlwriter8
Summary: Everyone knows that Ren and Nora are practically inseparable, in fact, the only thing to successfully separate them, is when the other's heart stops.
1. Part 1:the Wilted Lotus

**Hello everyone and thanks for clicking on my fanfiction! A few warnings before start, this fanfic does contain major character death, in fact that is pretty much the premise of the whole thing, so if you don't like that stuff, maybe find another fic.** **there are also some triggers I would like to warn about. There are mentions of suicide and drinking, along with some cussing, so if you are sensitive to that stuff, please be careful.** **Thank ya'll very much and please enjoy!**

All Nora saw was red mixed with a familiar shade of green as she felt felt her breath leave, her stomach turn, and her mind go blank.

She didn't know what she was doing, but her body responded without her, she caught him before he hit the ground. In her shock he felt like nothing as she held him dodging the blows from the Beowulf In front of them, her instincts kicking in as she took off. As soon as they were safe behind where their friends fended off the larged pack of Grimm that had attacked their camp she finally allowed herself to look down at Ren.

She couldn't breath, she wanted to puke. Ren had three large gashes across his chest, which was heaving as he struggled to breath. His eyes were screwed closed and his face was twisted in agony.

"Shit, oh shit." Nora breathed, her own breathing was sporadic as she stripped off her short jacket and placing it over Ren's wounds and pressing down on the them with all her strength.

She needed the bleeding to stop. She just wanted all the red to go away. She tried her best to ignore how it was already soaking through the navy blue of her jacket.

"Jaune! Jaune!" She cried out as loud as she could over the noise of battle around her, looking for her leader, and perhaps her best friends last hope.

Oh Oum, there shouldn't be this much blood. Oh Oum, not good, not good at all.

The panic was clawing at her heart as she finally spotted the knight locked in combat all the way across the field.

"Jaune! Jaune! Jaune we need you!" she through everything she had into calling his name, noticing him finally catching a glimpse of them.

Nora almost jumped when she felt a hand gently brush her face.

"Nora" the voice was little more than a whisper as she looked down at those all too familiar pink eyes that looked serenely up at her. He had a calm smile on his lips as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Have I ever told you that you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." She felt the tears start to slip from the corner of her eyes.

"Ren," she sobbed, "just hang in there for a little longer." She looked back up and nearly growled in frustration when she saw that Jaune was once again having to stop to fend off another Grimm. She tried to not think about how slipper her hands felt as she pressed as hard as she could.

"Do you remember the day you unlocked your semblance?" his eyes were stilled trailed on her face. Why was he thinking of that now?

"Yeah, of course. It was one hell of a crazy Thursday." She tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a strangled sob.

"I thought I lost you that day. I was so scared. But everything ended up just fine, you were more than okay afterwards." Ren's eyes were so full of emotion that it surprised Nora, she was so used to him using his semblance to suppress his own emotions. But there was so much behind his eyes now, they looked so warm and soft, almost like they had when they had finally left Kuroyuri. "I am so glad you were okay that day, I can't imagine having to go one without you."

She watched as his eyelids began to shut a bit, the fist tightening around her heart.

"Ren, please stay with me." She sobbed, feeling the warm liquid rush down her cheeks. "Please," her voice cracked, this couldn't be the end, could It? There was so much she needed to tell him. She felt his gentle fingers gently stroke her cheek, wiping away her tears.

"Don't cry, you're going to be just fine."

"Ren," she choked out, her arms starting to shake "no, I need you Ren, I don't know what to do without you! You can't leave me! I-I lo..." His finger covered her lips, interrupting her sentence.

His eyes were so full of warmth as he smiled up at her. "I know, I've always known. You can't keep secrets from me Nora." His eyes continued to drift close, "I should have told you long before now, but, Nora Valkyrie, I…"

"No!" She cut him off, shaking her head. She had been waiting for years to hear hjjm say those words, but she couldn't hear them now, not with his blood soaking through her clothes, not with his chest heaving so much as he tried to cling to life. "Not now, tell me tomorrow. Because I won't believe you if you tell me now."

Her eyes drifted up and she almost wanted to sigh in relief as she saw Jaune sprinting towards them.

That's when a light touch to her nose made her heart stop.

"boop." that one soft word echoed through her ears as she looked down as Ren's eyes drifted shut. The smile on his face relaxing as his whole body went limp.

"Ren! Ren! Wake up! Please wake up Ren!"

She felt Jaune fall to his knees on the other side of Ren. She didn't struggle when he pulled Ren away from her. She was being hit by all of her emotions at once. It had been a while since she had last felt this many emotions clouding her mind, Ren usually filtered them when he knew she was getting overwhelmed.

She felt numb due to the overwhelming amount of emotions. Feelings of loss, anger, depression, fear, and confusion flowed through her. The last time she had felt like this was after she had came home to find her house burned down and her family killed by bandits.

Back then she had wished she had been able to do something, anything. Now, she was stronger, even if she had been unable to stop what had just happened, she could at least do something.

She didn't hear as Jaune called her name. She had dropped magnhild, but she had stormflower. She grasped the double pistols in her hands.

She locked her eyes on the first Grimm she saw. She had watched Ren in battle for years, when they were practicing he had even let her practice with stormflower a few times.

It only took her a couple shots to dispatch the first Grimm as she flipped the pistols to their blades, using them to nearly rip the head off the Beowulf behind her.

She continued like this, quickly dispatching Grimm after Grimm. Unlike usual, she felt no joy in the fight, she just felt num, like this was something she had to do.

Soon she found herself out of Grimm as she stood in the middle of their scattered remains laying around her as she finally started to become aware of everyone else.

Team RWBY, Sun, and Ilea all stared at her with varying degrees of shock as she stood there, covered in blood that wasn't hers, stormflower loosely hanging from her hands. Ozpin/Oscar was looking at her with concern, and she watched Qrow slowly approach her, she loathed the look in his eyes, it was a look of pity.

He gently placed a hand on her arm which she quickly shrugged off, glaring at him as she turned and stormed towards magnhild.

She had to get out of here, she needed to get away from everyone's looks. She just didn't want to be around anyone.

She hooked storm flower to her belt as she picked up magnhild. She had seen a stream nearby when they had been setting up camp earlier. The blood that covered her skin made it feel like she had gained a few extra pounds, she just wanted to wash it all off.

Nora mechanically started walking towards the stream. As she passed by Jaune she heard him call her name. But she didn't even look towards him. She couldn't stand seeing the limp body at his feet. She just couldn't look at it right now, so she kept walking.

She heard Jaune continue to call her name, but she just kept walking until she felt something tug on her arm. She turned to look and saw Jaune staring back at her.

The moment Jaune saw Nora's face he pulled her into his arms. Hugging the girl close to him, only to have her pull away almost immediately.

"Nora…" he had no idea what he was supposed to say to this girl, she wouldn't even look at him.

"I need to take a bath." The normally hyperactive girl spoke without emotion as she turned to continue on her path.

Jaune didn't stop her this time, he just looked after her, unsure of what he should do.

Nora eventually came to the stream and slowly undressed, stripping the soaked cloth off her body as she stepped into the water. The cold water not even registering in her mind.

She scrubbed at her skin, rubbed and rubbed trying to get all the blood off. While a lot of it washed away when she first walked in, it seemed some had stained her skin.

She let out a cry of frustration as she heard someone approaching.

She gave a yelp and tried to cover herself only to see Ruby standing at the bank with towels, soap, and a change of clothes.

"Sorry!" Ruby yelped when she saw Nora's state, politely turning her head to not be looking at her. "I um brought some stuff for you." Ruby sat the stuff on a nearby rock.

"Thanks" Nora tried to give Ruby a smile, but it came off empty.

Ruby had no idea what to say to her friend. She had never seen Nora and Ren in separate rooms for more than to use the restroom or take a shower. They had been inseparable from the moment she had met them, now the universe had decided to separate them for good. It wasn't fair.

"Nora, are you, um are you doing okay?" Ruby finally voiced, still averting her eyes.

"Yeah, just need to get these stains out." Ruby's heart broke.

"Oh okay." Ruby felt the tears prick behind her eyes as she watched her friend focus on scrubbing all the red and pink from her skin, "We are all back at camp once you are done."

"Okie dokie Ruby. Tell Ren I'll be there in a few minutes!" the ginger's voice once again holding traces of her usual chipper self.

Ruby felt the sob as it clawed out, but she couldn't tell the girl the truth, not right now. "O-okay, I-I'll make sure to, um to tell him, Nora." let her live in her delusions, even if it is just for a minute.

Ruby walked back to camp where she found Jaune and Yang waiting for her. She collapsed into her big sister's arms and finally allowed herself to sob openly.

Nora was finally able to get the stains out of her skin and hair, she let out a laugh of triumph as she climbed out of the water. She dried off at threw on her extra shirt and skirt that Ruby had brought her. She started walking back to camp, the smell of something cooking guided her as she left the clothes soaked through with her partner's blood to float far away with the water that she had used to scrub it from her being.

Everyone was silent as Nora entered to the camp, dinner was cooking over the fire. Everyone turned to look at her, confused by the smile that ran over her lips, but never reached her eyes.

"Hello everyone!" her voice chipper and upbeat, but not to her usual degree, "where is Ren? He should be helping with dinner." Nora noticed how Ruby hid her face in her hands, Yang holding her, Blake and Illea looked at her with pity, Sun had averted his eyes, same with Weiss who had allowed her hair to drape so Nora couldn't see her face. Oscar had tears in his eyes as he stirred at whatever was cooking. Qrow sat against a tree nearby with a large bundle of cloth at his feet and his flask at his lips. Jaune slowly approached Nora with his hands outstretched like he was approaching a scared animal.

"Nora, do you not remember what happened?" Jaune voiced in concern as Qrow let out a snort. Jaune glared at him before returning his gaze to Nora. "Nora, are you okay?"

"Of course I am Jaune. Are you okay? You're acting weird right now." Nora took a step back eyeing Jaune hesitatingly as he continued towards her.

"What do you remember from earlier?"

"Why?" Nora continued to step backwards.

"Nora, tell me what you remember." his voice was becoming harder.

"No, you are weirding me out, Jaune" suddenly Nora tripped as she fell over the big bundle by Qrow. Nora fell partially on top of whatever it was. She twisted to get a better look and noticed a corner of the blanket she was on had shifted, revealing a face, a very familiar face.

Nora wasn't sure who was screaming, but it echoed in her ears making her try and cover them to block out the loud noise. She felt her stomach turn, and it was all she could do to crawl towards a nearby tree before emptying the contents of her stomach. As she puked the screaming stopped as she heard several pairs of feet start to run towards her.

"Hey!" a gruff voice shouted nearby as a sturdy hand grabbed her should. "Why don't you kids leave her alone right now." The voice snapped as the footsteps stopped. Nora looked up to see Qrow glaring at Jaune, Blake, and Yang who had started towards her. "Go, find something to do, just leave the girl alone right now." the other three shifted on their feet for a moment before they slowly scattered, going to do chores around camp.

Nora looked back to where she had tripped and whimpered when she saw Ren's face, so still and pale. She felt tears trickling behind her eyes, and a scream was trying to fight it's way out of her throat as she stared in horror.

"Do you want to be here?" Qrow's gruff voice asked. It was all Nora could do to shake her head no as more whimpers snuck out of her lips, unable to tear her eyes from her best friend. "Okay then," Qrow muttered, getting up and Nora watched as he through the sheet back over Ren's face as she felt the tears start to leak out. He made his way back to her, helping Nora to her feet and placing an arm over her shoulders as he guided her away from camp.

Eventually the two of them arrived at a cliff. Qrow let go of Nora a few feet from the ledge as he went to sit on the edge, taking another drag from his flask. Nora just stood there for a minute as she stared over the cliff, letting everything sink in.

Slowly she started walking towards the edge as tears fell down her cheeks. She wanted Ren so much, she needed him more than anything right now. But he wasn't there, he was never going to be there, not anymore. He wouldn't be there to hold her aft eff she had a nightmare. He wouldn't be there when she begged for pancakes in the morning. He wouldn't be able to correct her when she made a mistake on her homework. He wouldn't be able to watch her back, or read her, or hug her, or let her braid and brush gorgeous hair. He was gone, she would never feel his hand, or smell his pancakes, or see his brilliant magenta eyes, or hear his voice. Oh Oum, how she wanted to hear his calm voice right now.

Without her noticing her feet were hanging half off the cliff as she felt the wind blow through her short hair, trying to imagine it was his fingers. She stared forward as the sun sank low, trying to find his eyes in the sunset.

"You going to jump?" Nora winced at Qrow's voice. "Don't think I would blame you if you did. Don't think anyone could blame you." He muttered as he took another sip, glancing at the short girl as tears streamed down her cheeks and arms slightly lifted like she was a bird trying to take flight. "But I don't think you are actually going to do it. Wanna know why?" Qrow turned his head back to the skyline watching the sunset, he saw the girl's head turn to look at him from the corner of his eyes.

"Why?" Her voice was horse and shaky, "Why shouldn't I jump? I've lost everything, I'm all alone now."

"Never said you shouldn't jump, just said you wouldn't. Not that you should either. You and Ren haven't been alone for a while now Nora. You shouldn't jump because all those kids back at camp would miss you. They all care about you." Qrow took a sip, "Hell, I care about you too." Qrow turned to face the crying girl. "But that doesn't matter right now. We all mean nothing right now, now that he is gone it seems like your world has disappeared." Nora fought back a sob as Qrow continued. "No, you won't jump because you know he wouldn't want you to. You know that he would be devastated if you killed yourself over him. You know that he would never be able to forgive himself or even look at you if you killed yourself just because he left."

Nora couldn't hold it back, she allowed the sobs to consume her as she stepped back from the cliff. Her fists clenched and unclenched as she felt her legs wobble under her. But she didn't collapse, no, instead she turned around and hit the nearest tree. She put all her being in it and felt the wood splinter beneath her fist. She raised her other fist and delivered another blow, screaming with all the rage she felt at that moment, because Qrow was right, Ren wouldn't want her to die, and it was unfair.

Why did he die? Why couldn't he hold on for just another couple minutes till Jaune could heal him? Why couldn't Jaune had been faster? Why did he let Ren die in her arms? Why did the Grimm have to attack them? Why couldn't she save Ren? Why couldn't she save him?

She sobbed and screamed as she continued her tirade on the tree till it collapse, cracking and hitting the ground with a mighty thud. She then turned to the next tree and started giving it the same treatment.

She heard a thud from her right and jumped as she turned and saw Qrow with his scythe out, standing over a fallen tree. He nodded at his work before offering her his weapon.

"Here, use this instead of destroying your hands." He glanced down at her knuckles which were heavily bleeding at this point. Nora accepted his weapon, it was heavy, but not much heavier than magnhild.

Nora took a couple practice swings before continuing on her tree cutting tirade. She must have cut down over thirty trees before Nora was finally able to calm down. Her breathing was heavy and she was drenched with sweat as she dropped Qrow's scythe and collapsed in on herself.

Qrow reached her in a second, slowly guiding her to the ground and arranging the sobbing girl on his lap. He pet her hair and rubbed circles on her back as he placed his chin on top of her head. This was a familiar position to him. How many times had he held Yang or Ruby like this when school or training had gotten to be too much? When they awake screaming from nightmares or were frustrated with Tai. After Summer had gone missing and been pronounced dead. Before then he had held Summer like this as well, it only seemed right to hold the little girl filled with so much grief like this. So they sat like that until he felt her tears dry up and her sobs turned into dry heaves. He reached into his bag and bright out a bottle of water shifting the limp girl in his arms and handing her the bottle.

"It'll only suck worse if you are dehydrated." He felt her hands, weak from everything that day gently grab the bottle. She downed the contents in almost one gulp, before burying her head back into his chest as her ragged breaths finally started to calm down. Qrow gently stroked her hair. He knew Yang and Ruby were probably grieving too right now, but they had each other, right now Nora probably felt like the universe had abandoned her, she needed someone to be strong and be there for her. He would check on his nieces later, right now he could be there for the girl who just lost her everything, because Oum knows he remembered how that felt.

Eventually Nora's breathing became somewhat normal again as she picked up her head, but didn't pull away from Qrow, continuing to let him rub circles on her back. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, the sun having long since disappeared. Qrow knew there were things they had to talk about, but he wanted to put it off as long as he could.

As the night grew darker and all the stars started to appear he knew he had to say something. He sighed, the girl was strong, she would come out of this, maybe not whole, or fully alive, but neither had he, what did the world care as long as you were breathing.

"Nora, you know we are going have to leave tomorrow, right?" He saw her nod her head from the corner of his eye. "Then you know we are going have to bury him in the morning." he saw her hand fly up to muffle her sob. "You knew it was going to have to be done. You don't have to be there if you don't want to be. No one will blame you."

"Your wrong", Qrow was surprised by the force behind her voice, "I know you said we weren't alone anymore, but I'm still the closest thing he has to family. I have to be there for his send off. I know the other's won't blame me if I'm not, but I will." Her voice was calm and steady, it didn't sound anything like the Nora Qrow had known for the past couple of months on their travels, but he guessed he really shouldn't be surprised by that. So he just nodded.

"What about here then?" Nora looked up at him quizzically, "You are the closest we have to his family, that means you should have a say on where we bury him." I watched her nod in understanding. "Do you have a place in mind?"

"Ideally we would be able to bury him in Kouyuri with his parents. But I'm guessing that is out of the question." Qrow wirelessly nodded. Oh Oum, did he wish he could bury that boy with his parents, but they had other things they needed to do, and backtracking was out of the question. "Then yeah, let's bury him here." Nora stared out over the cliff at the land sprawling in all directions. "He would like this place," she sighed, a tear rolling down her face, "He would love how quiet it is, and that he could watch the sunset every day." She felt the tears once again roll down her cheeks as she looked up at Qrow who nodded.

Qrow and she had never had a chance before now to talk one one one, but she knew Ruby loved her uncle very much, and she could see why. She wondered why he had been so understanding this whole time. Her cheeks started to go red as she realised how long she had been sitting in the grown man's lap. She immediately did her best to shove of his lap in that moment. He let out a gruff laugh at her reaction.

"You know, it's not that weird, you should see how often Ruby ends up crying on Tai or my laps."

"Um sorry." Nora muttered.

"It's good." Qrow sat back stretching his legs and sighing. "I won't say I know exactly how you are feeling, because I don't." Nora winced as she pulled her knees against her chest. "But I have an idea." Nora watched him from the corner of her eye as he twisted one of his rings, "I lost someone who I loved more than my life at one point. It was years ago, but I know how devastating that sort of thing can be."

Nora sobbed into her lap, "I never even gotta tell him that I loved him." Qrow gently placed a hand on her back as she let another sob escape. "Does it ever get better?"

"No," his voice was harsher, "They'll tell you time will heal all your wounds, but in truth it does nothing, you just get better at hiding it."

"How do you deal with it?" Qrow chuckled as he pulled out a flask.

"One guess." his tone was completely dry. Normally Nora would never think about ever touching alcohol or drugs, she had lived on the streets and seen how those substances only made people sink lower, but now, now she was sure she couldn't get any lower.

"Could I have any?" Qrow lifted his eyebrow.

"You know people call this stuff evil for a reason." He looked back at the girl, and sighed, grabbing something and tossing it at her. "But, the devil can't touch you if you don't have a soul." Nora picked up the flask that had landed next to her and examined it, the contents sloshing inside. "Just, promise you won't drink until you can't take the pain anymore." his eyes were so soft and caring, they almost reminded Nora of Ren's. She felt the tears prick at her eyes once again. Qrow nodded and grunted as he lifted himself up, helping Nora up as well. "We should be getting back." Nora nodded and followed Qrow.

After walking for a few minutes Qrow spoke one last time, "You should take tonight and say goodbye. I'll keep the other's away, but this might be your last chance." Nora just nodded. Qrow grunted in acknowledgement.

Once they arrived back at camp Qrow wandered over to check on his nieces as Nora made her way to the bundle of cloth next to one of the trees. She saw that someone had placed his bag next to him, along with hers. She sat done and after a moment of hesitation grabbed his bag, the first thing she saw was his extra change of clothes. With a shaky hand she gentle lifted them to her face, taking a deep breath, she could still smell him on them. The sobs shook her once again as she held the clothes to her chest. Looking at the figure of the love of her life begging whoever was listening to just bring him back, just so she could hold him again.

She eventually passed out next to the corpse while clinging his clothes to her chest, face pink from tears.

The next morning no one dared wake Nora. Instead the rest followed Qrow to the cliff Nora had said she wanted to bury him. Together it took about an hour to dig the grave. It was agreed that Jaune would be the one to go get Nora and help her bring Ren's body, after all, he was still their leader.

When Jaune got back to camp he was a little surprised to see Nora up and ready to go, but he was even more surprised by what she was wearing. Gone was her pink skirt, replaced by Ren's white pants, she was also wearing Ren's green tunic over her usual white turtleneck. She still had her usual gloves and lace up boots, and her pink belt was at the waist pulling the tunic tighter. Magnhild was on her back, and stormflower were hooked to her belt. Her hair, which normally just flew freely was now partially tied back, the top part now in a ponytail. Jaune wasn't sure what to make of this new look, but the look on Nora's face was one of determination, so he decided to just go with it.

"Ready?" He asked, she nodded. "Do you want to carry him?" Nora just shook her head, she wasn't sure if she could make it if she was carrying him. Jaune just nodded in understanding before picking up the body that was wrapped tightly in sheets and started on his way, Nora walking soberly next to him.

As they walked one of Ren's arms came loose and fell from the bundle, Jaune held his breath for a minute wondering if he should stop and fix it, till he saw Nora silently reach out and grab Ren's hand, holding the limp hand in her own tiny one. Jaune just kept walking, Nora beside him, not saying a word as she allowed herself to hold her best friend's hand one last time.

When they finally reached the cliff everyone was silent, they all starred, taking in Nora's new appearance. Nora did her best to ignore them as she allowed her hand to drop from Ren's.

Ren was placed in the ground as everyone went around telling something they remembered about Ren, how he was a great friend and guy. Nora wasn't paying attention, she just stared at the body in the ground, trying to convince herself that this was it, that Ren was gone, and would soon be underneath six feet of dirt. But she couldn't.

Someone had made a rough tombstone with Ren's age carved into it, along with his family's symbol of a lotus flower and the words, "here lies Lie Ren a great huntsman and friend."

It seemed surreal to Nora that Ren's whole life came down to a stone with less than ten words carved into it. There was so much no one would know if they saw his tombstone, they would never know how caring he was, or how smart, or how he made the best pancakes ever. That information would all be lost to time.

Everyone had gone quiet, and Nora looked up, realising it was her turn. Everyone had pity in their eyes, oh Oum, she hated that look. Qrow was the only exception, he looked at her with understanding. She cleared her voice and tried to piece together words to describe just who Ren was to her.

"Lie Ren was someone who was very special to me," she said, her voice shaking, she tried to pull herself together as much as she could. "He was more than just a best friend to me, he was so much more. He was a study buddy, the best cook ever, especially when it came to pancakes. He was someone who would always listen, no matter how much I rambled." Nora let out a dry chuckle, "He was a shoulder to cry on and a protector of so much. He was more than a friend, he was my best friend, my partner, my family, my, my, my everything, the, the, lo…. Oh Oum!" Nora cried as the sobs once again racked through her as she collapsed. Jaune was immediately by her side, his arms supporting her. "Oh Oum! Ren! Ren! Please don't be dead! I'll never wake you up or distract you from studying again, just please don't be dead!" Jaune caught Nora as she pitched forward.

As the hole was filled up Nora sobbed into her leaders chest as he cried into her hair. Each shovel of dirt made Nora's soul cry out. So there stood the remains of team JNPR, forced to say goodbye to yet another teammate.

Eventually everyone left, one by one they wandered off, leaving Jaune and Nora alone. Eventually Jaune went back to help pack up camp after laying a hand on the rough tombstone and saying one last goodbye. He left Nora to say one last goodbye.

As soon as Jaune left Nora collapsed at the foot of the grave, her arms wrapped around herself as she stared into the distant.

"Why did you die Ren?" she asked the air. "Why now? We had so much we still needed to do. We still need to beat Salem and become official hunstmen." Nora sighed, "Qrow told me that the pain never goes away, that it never gets better. I don't understand how I'm going to live Ren, it feels like it is killing me." Nora sobbed. Her shaky hand reaching for her pocket where she clenched the flask. "I know you wouldn't want me to do this," she stated as she pulled out the flask and started to unscrew it, "but you don't know what it is like Ren. It feels like my soul and heart died with you, and all that is left in their place is pain. I just need the pain to go away Ren, I just need the pain to stop." Nora shook her head and raised the flask to her lips, swallowing the burning liquid until her brain started to go fuzzy. She slowly put it away, sighing and allowing herself to enjoy the buzzing in her brain that replaced at least some of the pain she had been feeling earlier, enough for her to turn the corners of her lips upwards slightly.

"I'm sorry Ren. I know you wouldn't be proud of me right now, but I need to find some way to live, for both of us now." She gently reached out and touched the tombstone. "I already miss you more than anything." She gave a dark chuckle, "I'm going to have to get used to negative emotions now, you would never let me feel them much before." She touched the tombstone over his name gently with her index finger, "Boop." She whispered as she stood up. "I'm not sure how I'm going to make it without you Ren, but I guess I'll have to find out. But one last thing, this isn't goodbye Ren, I'm going to come back, I promise." Nora turned to walk away, she didn't look back. She couldn't. If she did, she wasn't sure if she would see the sunset that night.

Two months after Ren's death Salem was defeated. Three months after his death Nora returned to Beacon with the other's. The remains of team JNPR were joined by Illea and Oscar. Jaune and Nora became partners upon their return to school, as a result they became much closer. Nora eventually started being able to rejoin society to some extent, she never returned to her normal self, she was much more subdued and serious, the mischievous sparkle in her eyes had died. But there were times when she would recover a part of her old self, but it took Jaune years before he heard her laugh and smile like her old carefree self.

On Nora's part, after a little while Ren wasn't her every thought, though a day never paced that she didn't think about him. It took years for the nightmares to stop being her every dream. She tried not to let on how she had started turning to alcohol to numb herself to stop the pain, and for a while she was successful due to not drinking an overabundance, just enough to numb her slightly and help with the pain. But eventually Jaune found out, he had almost killed Qrow that day, but Nora and Ruby had been able to talk him down. While Jaune tried to get Nora to go to AA, she never did, she knew it wasn't healthy, but it helped the pain.

Nora started taking extra lessons from Qrow, he was helpful when it came to helping her concentrate and relate things back to fighting and other things she could understand. Eventually Qrow and Nora grew quite close, and Qrow started inviting her over to holidays with Ruby, Yang, Tai, and him. After a while she started taking him up on his offer, and she would often spend her summer break split between Jaune's family and the Xialong and Rose household. However there were periods of town where she would seemingly disappear off the map for a week or two, though Jaune and the other's knew she was on a cliff in northern Anima.

Eventually all of them graduated from Beacon. After Weiss had revealed the corruption in her father's industry, her and her sister were able to kick their father out, Winter instead taking his place with Weiss serving as her right hand woman and head huntress. In Atlas Ruby had found that Penny's AI had been back up and was able to restore her. After graduation the two of them opened a weapons shop in the city of vale. Yang and Blake eventually confessed their feelings for each other, and eventually got married, Blake now served as leader of the new peaceful white rang, along with Illea and Sun, and her loyal wife serving as her head huntress and head of security. Jaune worked as a traveling huntsman with Nora for a couple years, they were two of the best in the business, but two years after graduating Jaune met a wonderful girl in Minstral who he settled down with.

Nora continued to travel, taking any job she could find, just trying to keep herself busy. During her rare free time she started visiting a small village in northern Anima that sat near a familiar cliff, after a couple of visits Nora even purchased a small cabin on the outskirts of the village. It was a friendly little place, the residents were very excited to have a huntress in their mix and treated Nora with utmost respect. The children of the village especially loved her, often hunting down the ginger huntress to play or have her show them some of her moves. It was with the children of the village that Nora felt the most like her old self, smiling and laughing at their silly antics. She would run around playing silly games, or show the children how she wielded Magnhild or Stormflower. The children knew that if they were ever in trouble to find the orange haired huntress in her green tunic, and she would drop everything just to help. It was because of this that Nora had received more than her fair share of homeless children who had heard that she would help them, and she did, she always did her best to feed those children and find them somewhere where they could be safe, she couldn't help it, everytime she looked into their eyes, she saw a part of herself and Ren that they had lost all too soon on the streets, she wouldn't let that happen to another kid as long as she was alive.

Nora did her best to keep in contact with all her friends, even when she stopped visiting as much for holidays, she tried to at least keep communications open. four years after graduation, Jaune sent her a message requesting that she be his Best Woman in his wedding. Nora didn't have to think for long on that one, Jaune and her had been battle partners for about five years, in that time she had learned to trust him to watch her back, he was to only person Nora had ever fully trusted like that other than, other than, other than him.

Thinking about Ren had gotten easier over the years, but it still hurt her whenever she thought about the fact that he was gone.

Nora stood behind Jaune at his wedding, in a lovely flowing green dress, with Sun and Oscar stood as Jaune's groomsmen. Jaune's wedding was a very happy occasion, it was the first time she had seen all her friends in the same place since graduation. She laughed with Yang as Yang discussed some of the more ridiculous situations she had got into as the bodyguard of the new White Fang leader, while her wife blushed furiously. She discussed weapon modifications with Ruby and Penny who announced their recent engagement. Weiss was more than eager to ask Nora about the Schnee Dust Company's new movements to help the environment in Atlas. Nora even danced with Illea for a little while, both the girls laughed as they tried their best to ballroom dance as Illea blushed over a new girl she was interested in. Jaune watched her from the sidelines with his lovely new wife, watching his old partner who was smiling and laughing, her now long ginger hair trailing behind her as she spun with Ruby across the dance floor. It was the closest thing Jaune had seen to the way Nora had once been, and seeing it made his heart feel so much lighter.

Eventually though the night came to an end and Nora once again returned to her life in the village.

The villagers had long since grew used to Nora's drinking, no one questioned her about it, preferring to keep silent and keep on the good side of one of the few huntsmen within miles, and for her part Nora was a pretty calm drunk, like the huntsman with the grey hair and red eyes who began to visit and stay with Nora more and more. The village felt blessed to have the two huntsmen to protect them.

Qrow and Nora never really talked much when he was there, they more enjoyed the mutual silence and understanding. Qrow liked the village, it was a good escape from the rest of the hectic world. Nora enjoyed the company as well, Qrow was nice to have around, even if it did create rumors that he was her secret lover.

Time went one, rumors would surface about a grave that the huntress would often visit, there were many tales as to who the grave was for. Some said it was the grave of someone the huntress had been unable to save, some said it was a parent or sibling, some said that the huntress was much older than she seemed and that the grave was for a lost child, and still others spoke of the grave being that of a long lost lover and friend.

One day though, the villagers noticed that the huntress did not return from patrolling the woods. That afternoon a few villagers decided to look for her. After an hour of searching a couple of the villagers swore they saw an unfamiliar boy in the huntresses robs walking through the woods. They followed the boy with long black hair until they came to the clearing on top of the cliff. That's where they found her.

Her small form was curled up against the old tombstone, her long orangish hair fanning out over the top of it, the loose fitting green robs wrapped loosely around her shoulders leaving her in her loose white pants and form fitting pink shirt. Her face was peaceful as it lulled against the headstone, her lips partially parted, but no air escaped. Her hand folded across her stomach and blood stained her side. She looked peaceful in death.

The villagers watched the boy they had followed walk over to the huntresses body and kneel next to her, placing his hand over hers and gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and gently kissing her forehead. The villagers watched in silence as the boy in green turned back to them, a satisfied smile on his face as he disappeared into thin air.

By the time Jaune, team RWBY, and the others arrived in the village to bury their old friend, the ghost stories were already spreading throughout the village of the boy with long black hair wearing a set of robs that looked almost identical to Nora's, but much newer.

Nora's friends buried her right next to Ren, replacing the old makeshift tombstone with one that was much nicer to serve for both of them. At the top was both of their symbols, a hammer and a lotus interconnected with one another. One side had Ren's name with his dates, he had lived a good eighteen years. On the other side was Nora's name and dates, to most 28 would seem like a tragically young age, but everyone at the grave that day knew that to Nora, it had felt like a lifetime.

The day was clear and cool, while tears were shed, everyone knew that in the end, Nora was going to be alright, Ren was no doubt waiting for her. To group began to leave as the sun set. Jaune and Qrow were the last ones, both reflecting on the loss of yet another loved one.

"Guess I really sucked as a team leader," Jaune broke the silence laughing dryly, "let every single member die."

"Don't beat yourself up kid." Qrow's voice gruff as always, "I should have been here instead on a useless mission, maybe I could have kept that thing from taking a bite out of her."

"You think she's at peace?" Jaune's eyes gazed down at the grave below them.

A moment later a flash of color caught both of their eyes. They sunset shone brightly from just over the cliff and on the edge of the cliff sat two figures. One in a familiar set of green robs, black hair cascading down his back. The smaller figure next to him was dressed in a navy blue bombers jacket and pink skirt, a big pink hammer with a lightning bolt on the back of her jacket, her short hair blowing gently in the wind, her head gently leaned on the bigger one's shoulder as their hands laid intertwined behind them.

Once he found his voice again Qrow's voice was much softer, "You know what, I think they are going to be just fine."Jaune nodded, his mouth still open and eyes glazed over, the sight almost made Qrow laugh. "The other's are probably going to be wondering soon, let's get back kid."

Qrow stirred Jaune away gently prodding the poor kid back towards the village. Jaune continued walking towards woods, to dazed to question him.

As Jaune disappeared, Qrow turned back to the figures.

"Well, I guess this is it Kiddo, guess this is goodbye." Qrow knelt down touching the words on the tombstone that he and Jaune had picked out. "Hope you like this." Qrow looked up and noticed the figures had moved. The young girl gave him a smile, her face was alight with her eyes twinkling in a way they hadn't in years. Qrow could have sworn he saw her mouth the words "thank you". The boy next to her gingerly kissed the top of her head and Qrow watched as they seemed to disappear as the sun finally set.

Qrow couldn't help but smile to himself, "See you later Kiddo." With that he turned and started on his track back to the village.

The clearing that had been made a decade ago by a grieving girl now laid in piece with a tombstone in the middle as a reminder of two souls that had been forever interconnected.

"Friends, family, and soulmates. They spent one lifetime together and another apart"

"Now allow their souls to lay together till the end of time"

"Boop"


	2. Part 2: The Rusted Hammer

Hello beautiful people! I finished this chapter early so I thought I would go ahead and publish it a little earlier than planned.

Real quick I would just like to say thank you to everyone who read, favorites, followed, and reviewed the last part. Y'all are all amazing and I hope you enjoy this update. Sorry it's a lot shorter, but I hope it's just as good as the last part.

Same warnings as last part, please be careful.

Disclaimer: You think if I owned RWBY there would be anybody able to question whether Renora was cannon or not. No, I didn't think so.

*Sorry for the re-post my pretties, but Bomberguy789 pointed out some errors to me, so I tried to change as many as I could, thank you very much for the help Bomberguy!*

Ren saw the flash of Emerald's weapons before he could move. He heard the sound of one firing and screwed his eyes closed.

In that split second he thought of Nora, he wanted her face to be the last thing he saw. Her smile that could brighten any room, her crystal clear eyes that were all too easy to read, the way she laughed with her whole body. He really hoped she would be okay without him.

"Ren!"

His eyes flew open as he saw a flash of pink and the face he had just thought up now staring back at him, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open. His eyes traveled down her body in horror as he saw her blood soaked shirt.

"Oh, that's not good." Nora mumbled as her legs started to give out.

"Nora!" Ren caught her as Ruby moved in taking on Emerald. "No, no, no, no." Ren muttered over and over as he slowly set Nora on the ground, his mind a mess of fear and confusion. Did, did Nora just get shot.

He quickly started peeling her now soaked shirt off of her trying to find the wound, he also tried really hard not to think about how this was not the way he had imagined undressing his best friend for the first time. He couldn't hold back the sigh of relief when he found the wound on her hip, away from any major organs, he laughed a little in relief.

"It's just a flesh wound." He looked up at her face, smiling down at her, "You scared me to death." his smile faltered when he saw her horrified gaze a little bit above where he had been looking. He almost cried when he saw what she was looking at.

A couple inches above the place where she had been shot. Two gaping wounds, that looked like a giant snake bite.

Ren's mind screamed in panic as soon as he connected what had happened. "Nora, w-what?" his voice was shaking, he knew he should be engaging his symbolism, but for the life of him he couldn't remember how to.

"Shit, one of those suckers must have got me." She muttered, her eyebrows scrunched together and she squinted like she was concentrating, a look that would usually make Ren's heart flutter, but now just added to his growing panic.

"Shit, oh shit, Nora" He grabbed the rest of her shirt, quickly taking it off so he could see her wound better. Shit, it was bleeding pretty profusely, Nora had probably already lost a lot of blood, not to mention the poison. Ren quickly grabbed the ruined piece of cloth that used to be a shirt and pressed down with all his might to just try and stop the bleeding. He prayed to whatever God would listen to just let Nora last till Jaune could get to them.

He heard a soft giggle come from below him, he looked down at Nora in confusion, her eyes seemed far away as she gazed at his face.

"You know, any other time I would be thrilled about you ripping my shirt off." She giggled.

He was shocked for a second, was that really what she was thinking about right now? Though he had been thinking something similar at first, but really?

"Now is not the time." He tried to keep his voice strict, but even he heard the crack in it. He felt something warm and wet roll down his cheek.

Ren looked around unable to find Jaune and mentally cussing out the blonde when he felt a soft touch. He looked down at Nora brushing away the tears on his cheek. She was smiling, her smile, the smile that could light up even the worst of his days. His heart did a flop like always, her eyes were so warm and filled with an emotion he had never dared to name.

"It's gonna be okay, Renny, I promise." Her voice was so calm, how could she be so calm? Couldn't she see the blood?

"N-Nora?"

"Do you not believe me Renny?"

"N-no, it's n-not th-that." damn the hot moisture making it difficult for him to see her face.

Suddenly he felt his hands being pushed away and an arm wrapping around his neck.

He didn't even know what was happening when a pair of soft lips met his own. She tasted like syrup and the cherry chapstick she wore. His arms automatically wrapped around her waist to support her and pull her closer to himself. He felt his own salty tears mingle with her sweet taste as he breathed her name into her lips. Eventually he pulled away looking down at this perfect girl whose blood he was currently soaked in.

"I was supposed to protect you." His voice breathless as he clung to her. Her beautiful blue eyes just looked back at his, they continued to grow further away.

"I know Ren, and you did." She gently brushed his cheek, he could feel her hand shaking . "Lie Ren, I love you, more than anything"

"Even more than my pancakes?" He tried to laugh, but it came out more as a strangled scream.

Nora just stared back at him with a smile. She used the last of her strength as she sat up, gently placing a chaste kiss on his nose, "Boop."

It came out as little more than a breath as she went limp in his arms.

"No-Nora!" Ren felt the agony rip through him as he pulled her closer to himself. He could make out the faintest of breathing as he picked her up. He needed to find Jaune. "Just stay with me, please stay with me Nora." He looked around as fast as he could, before finally seeing Jaune and starting towards him as fast as he could, Nora's head laying on his shoulder. "You need to stay with me Nora, it's not fair if you die, because I love you too and you need to hear that. If you die before I can tell you, I will never forgive you."

Ren did his best avoiding every enemy in his way as he hurried towards Jaune. Once Jaune saw Ren he quickly struck a final blow to a Grimm and ran towards him.

"What happened?" Jaune shouted as he reached them.

"She was bitten by a King Taijitu. She's lost a lot of blood. You have to help her." Ren rushed as he shifted Nora so Jaune could have easier access. He watch Jaune intently as Jaune rested his hands on Nora's side and closed his eyes. After a second Jaune's forehead creased in confusion before being replaced with a look of horror as he stared at Ren.

"Oh Oum, Ren, I'm so sorry."

"What? Why are you sorry? Jaune help her!" Ren's face was full of confusion. As Jaune looked at him with pity.

"Ren, I can't find her aura. I'm so sorry." Ren stared at Jaune in horror. He could no longer feel Nora's breath against his neck.

He stood there for a moment, just holding her body to him, as close as he could, burying his face in her hair. That's when the sobs started raking through his body, as he hugged her body to him, the grief consumed him completely as his legs gave out from under him.

Jaune watched his friend in horror as Ren let out a whimper, holding the small girl in his arms like she was the most precious thing in the world. The battle around them seemed to have paused as Jaune watched the others looking on at the boy who was crumpled around Nora's limp body. Jaune tried to reach out to comfort Ren only for the long haired boy to pull away as Jaune's hand touched his shoulder. That's when Jaune saw Ren's eyes.

Jaune unconsciously stepped back. Jaune remembered the look Ren had in Kouyuri, the one that had terrified everyone but Nora. Compared to now, the look from Kouyuri felt like nothing.

Jaune watched Ren stand slowly, still cradling Nora's lifeless body, his long hair draping over both their faces. No one moved as Ren gingerly sat Nora against the wall next to Magnhild, even the Grimm remained unmoving as if they sensed the loss of the fallen Valkyrie. Ren bent over, leaving a lingering kiss on her forehead before leaning back.

"Jaune." Ren's voice was raspy.

"Yes?" Jaune slowly started to approach the two of them.

"Protect her for me for a few minutes." Ren moved to pick up Magnhild.

"Ren?" Jaune asked with concern.

"I said protect her Jaune!" Ren's eyes were full of fire and lightning, his face livid with grief, agony, and livid anger mixed together. It was all Jaune could do to nod cautiously as Ren turned towards the remaining Grimm and Emerald who had pressed herself against the wall behind her.

Ren understood now why Nora loved Magnihild so much. There was something nice about having the heavy weapon in his hands like this. He remembered all those times Nora had tried to teach him how to wield her oversized hammer and how he had nearly unable to sing the large weapon. She had always promised that he would be able to eventually, with enough training. For some reason, right now it felt perfect in his hands as he took a swing at the first Grimm.

There was so much satisfaction in the way it's head gave way. Ren couldn't but smile, he understood why Nora liked this so much now. He continued on landing solid hits of the Grimm as he twirled avoiding their attacks in a little dance. A dark laugh escaping his lips. Eventually the Grimm remained little more than dust and smoke as he approached Emerald.

Emerald's eyes were wild as she tried to escaped the crazed man only to receive a whack to the stomach by the hammer. She was sent sprawling back in front of Ren. Looking up into his eyes she screamed.

"Salem! Salem please get me out!" She banged against the wall as he stalked closer to his pray.

A small part of his brain told him that it had been a Grimm, not Emerald that had caused the wound that was responsible for Nora's death. But Emerald had hurt her, and to Ren, that was all that mattered anymore as he hoisted Magnihild above his head and Emerald turned to face him.

The others had froze in shock as they watched Ren's manic rampage. But Qrow and Yang quickly leaped to block Ruby from seeing as Ren brought down the hammer. Jaune himself even looked away, closing his eyes as Emeralds screams ended with the sound of a splat.

No one said a word as Ren walked back over to Nora's body, setting down the now bloody Magnhild as he sat down and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

Weiss looked like she wanted to puke, Blake wasn't looking too much better. Yang still stood in front of Ruby as if trying her best to protect her, even Jaune shuffled backwards at the sight of his friend's blood splattered face, even Ozpin looked unsettled by the whole thing. Only Qrow was brave enough to take a step towards him.

"We need to keep going so we can find Salem."

Ren just nodded, but he seemed unwilling to move from his spot in front of Nora. A second later they heard it a rumbling coming from the grand doors they had entered through.

"Shit!" Qrow shouted as Jaune leaped into action, grabbing a metal rod that he found on the floor and shoving it through the door handle with Yang's help.

"They aren't going to stop trying to stop us, are they?" Ruby's voice sounded weary as she watched the doors.

"So what are we going to do?" Weiss asked, already readying her weapon.

"That isn't going to stop them for long." Qrow nodded at the makeshift barricade.

"But we need to get to Salem! We need to stop her!" Blake argued.

"Yes, but I'm scared there is only so much we can do when there are greater immediate dangers to our lives, Ms Belladonna." Ozpin, leaned on his staff observing their situation.

"Just go. Find her." Everyone was startled by the soft voice. They looked down at Ren who was still was crutched next to Nora.

"What was that Mr Ren?" Ozpin gave him a quizzical look.

Ren lifted a bag full of extra grenades for Magnihild as he lifted his eyes to look at them. "If I place these at the right places, all it will take is one shot, and this whole room will come down."

"That's a great idea!" Ruby shouted, excitement on her face, and a ray of hope appearing on a few others.

"But wouldn't someone have to stay here to set it off?" Weiss' eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Yes." everyone's face fell at Ren's word.

"Absolutely not!" Jaune yelled, stepping forward closer to Ren, "No way in Hell Ren, we already lost Pyrrha, and we just lost, just, too many, we have lost too many. I'm not letting you die too." Jaune clutched the handle of his sword as tears started to appear at the edges of his eyes.

"Someone has to do this, it might be the only way you all can get to Salem and defeat her once and for all."

"Yeah, but…"

"But, this is your best chance." Ren looked up at Jaune, his eyes shiney from tears. "This isn't like when you lost Pyrrha, Jaune. I don't know who I am without her."

Qrow placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder before the boy could say anything. "Would Nora want you to do this?" the gruff voice asked.

"No, she would probably knock my ass out and drag me out of here," he let out a forced laugh, "but I guess she'll just have to lecture me about that in a little while." He looked back up at everyone. "This is still the best chance we have."

"Very well, if you are certain Mr Ren, we have best hurry." Ozpin speaking before anyone else could speak up.

"I am."

"Very well then."

It only took a few minutes with everyone's help before all the grenades were in place. Everyone stood at the door leading out of the chamber they had been in, Nora's body had been moved to the spot where Ren would wait.

In the end, no one really knew how to say goodbye. Ruby gave Ren a big hug, but Jaune could barely look at his last remaining teammate. Qrow gently squeezed the long haired boy's shoulder before leading the other's out, promising to barricade the other side as well. As they left the other door started to bulge as something tried to break through.

Ren slowly sat down positioning Nora in his lap as he held Magnhild in one hand and used the other to hold her steady.

"You know, I think it was that night my village burned that my fate was sealed." Ren spoke calmly, as his thumb gently rubbed circles into Nora's back, just like he used to whenever she worked herself up too much or came to him after a nightmare, even though a part of him knew she could no longer feel it. "I made a vow that I wouldn't abandon you like I did in that alleyway, because in that moment you were all I had." He placed his chin on top of her head. "You know, I'm proud of you, right?" He paused, but of course there was no answer. "I know I never told you, but the first few years we knew each other I remember how you were such a scared little girl trying to survive, but you have become so confident and optimistic, and such a great fighter and friend, and Nora, I'm just so proud I had you in my life."

The banging was growing louder.

"You know, it is really unfair you got to tell me you loved me, but I didn't get to say it back. I think I first released how much I loved you after our fight with the Nuckleave, but I think I was in love with you long before that. I just wish you knew that, but I guess that means I'll just have to tell you that everyday from now on. I know you are probably going to be pissed off at me for this, and I can't blame you, if it were me, I would want you to live a long happy life, even if I wasn't there. I'm sorry Nora, I'm so sorry I couldn't do that for you, but I can't even imagine a tomorrow without waking up to you."

Ren heard the door start to splinter.

"Do you remember when you told me one of the only memories you have of your family. You said y'all had a funeral for your grandfather by sending him away on a ship that you lit on fire. I'm sorry, but I think this is the closest I'm going to be able to get for you."

The door splintered open as the hordes of Hell charged through. Ren waited till the last minute, when as many as possible had entered before aiming Stormflower at the first grenade.

"Boop."

The room was consumed by a loud bang and a flash of light and fire.

Further into the dark castle the rest felt the ground shake beneath them. They paused for a minute in a shared moment of silent grief for the souls of the partners that death itself couldn't even separate.

Thank you all for reading! I hope you all enjoy this upcoming volume!

If you are looking for more angsty Renora fanfics, I have another one called "The Lotus and the Hammer" that I started a couple years back and am going to be reviving and finishing in the upcoming weeks, so if you are interested, please go check it out!

Love you all!


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